Company Patenting Tech for Designing Babies

BERKELEY, Calif. — Parents will do just about anything to improve what they see as their children’s chance for success. But does that mean biotechnology?

Some say boosting a child’s chances before conception is ‘creepy’.

But what is wrong with a more perfect baby? One where you pick the eye color, athletic ability and disease risk?

“I guess if you could eliminate that (disease risk) that’s a pretty good thing,” said Tom Robarge of San Francisco.

Though Narkee Rosenberg said “it’s a little like playing with fate and future, and I don’t know how I feel 100 percent about that”.

Biotechnology may now give parents unprecedented choices.

“Our understanding of genetics in the last ten years has really exploded,” said 23andme scientist Emily Conley.

Fertility clinics already use pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, PGD, to select traits for some in-vitro babies. But intentional manipulation might create ethical nightmares such as in the sci-fi film GATTACA where genetics means success.

Marcy Darnovsky from the Center for Genetics and Society in Berkeley is very concerned of this possibility.

“A world of genetic haves and...